Evergreen
by Reamis
Summary: She said it back! Things can only get better from here. Right? Reviews please. T for safety. FINISHED. Thank you all so much.
1. Intro

**A bit of fun for me, and allows me to combine my two greatest passions, music and writing.**

**I'm going to try not to make too many, if any at all of these song-fics.**

**Here we go.**

'Hey Evergreen, you wanna take this solo?' James shouted over his mic in his confusingly mid-Atlantic accent to the rhythm guitarist of 'We Were Once'.

For a second the teenager appeared to be considering, then his eyes lit up as he relished the chance to try his new wah pedal

'Sure!' He shouted back, tapping his foot onto the box in front of him.

A smooth transition between tones announced the first note of what was to be a rip-roaring solo, 'Evergreen' pulling out all the stops and dumping his whole trick-bag right onto the floor.

A screeching split harmonic faded to nothing and as the band stopped in anticipation of the final chorus Raven faded out the CD.

'So you want us to go and see these guys?' Robin asked with no expression on his face at all.

'Well, I just thought it would be something interesting, if you don't want to we don't have to.' Raven was secretly disappointed, she had been a fan of We Were Once for at least a year or two and now they were playing in Jump City she wouldn't have a chance to see them.

'_I'll get you for this in sparring, Boy Wonder.'_ She thought.

'Didn't think that was your kind of music, Rae.' Cyborg said from the counter in the kitchen area.

'You don't know me that well then.' She retorted in a monotone.

'I thought they were wonderful, the squealing guitaxe was very expressive.' Starfire blurted.

'Guitar, Star.' Beast Boy corrected, he didn't seem too keen himself, for some reason. This was usually his favourite type of music.

'Ok fine, we'll go, but we leave the minute there's trouble.' Robin gave in and stalked from the room, silently screaming in jubilation. He already had his ticket.

'Very good.' Raven phased through the wall to her room.

Starfire simply floated out of the room in search of something else to occupy her attention.

'So, you not a fan of We Were Once?' Cyborg asked the green teen who seemed very indifferent.

'I just think that solo wasn't up to the standard of the lead guitarist.' Beast Boy sighed.

'Well duh, that's James Raze. He's like the greatest musician alive. Besides I thought the rhythm guitarist, what's he called?' Cyborg floundered for the name.

'Evergreen.' Beast Boy said instantly.

'Yeah, I thought he held up great, I just wanna hear them play together, that'd be…well…it'd be…BOOYAH!' Cyborg was trying to imagine how a joint solo between the band's guitarists would sound, he couldn't think of a word to describe it.

'Hmm.' Was all Beast Boy said.

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'James?' Evergreen wandered over to the front man of his band during their break from rehearsal.

'What is it, EG?' James dropped his magazine and took a drag on his cigarette.

'I was thinking during the Jump show we should harmonize the solo in 'Bring Me Your Smartest'.' He didn't think this would work, James loved to solo, the again he wasn't a selfish musician and usually gave up his own solos for Evergreen.

'Sure, that'd be great, I've been waiting for a chance to play with you properly, you've improved no end.' He offered his cigarette packet to the teenager, who declined.

'Good man, don't ever start.' James hopped from his perch on top of his Marshal and shouted to the rest of the band.

'Jake, Suzy! Greeny and I are harmonizing on 'Bring Me Your Smartest'! You guys just keep doing what you do.' They nodded in response.

'Those two make a great couple.' James noted.

'Yeah.' The other teen agreed.

'You got someone special?' James asked him.

'Not as such.' Evergreen told him.

'So that's a one-sided yes. Guy or girl and do I know them?' James prompted.

'Dude, sick! A girl and yes, you've probably heard of her.' Evergreen blushed a little.

'Ah, one of your 'business associates', prep or goth?' James' grin grew wider.

'I'm not telling you.' The other teen grinned as well.

'I'll find out.' James shouted after him as he went back to his amp.

'I'll tell you who if you tell me where you're from.' James chuckled at the guitarist's little 'in-joke'.

'Not a chance. After practice you want me to drop you back at the Tower?' James shouted to him.

'No way,' the green teen replied, 'the shore of the other side, I can't have anyone know I'm a huge rockstar as well as a superhero, can I?' Evergreen shouted back.

'All in a days work, eh BB?' James chuckled and began to retune his PRS.

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'See you tonight, Green Man.' James pulled up at the shoreline and unlocked the doors.

'The rest of the guys are coming to watch on Saturday, I can't just ditch them so that's when I'm gonna tell them.' Beast Boy told him, declining another cigarette.

'Peer pressure is nothing to you is it? Anyway, why not bring 'em backstage before the show? They'd have a blast.' He lit his own cigarette and took a drag, it's a bad habit, but he seemed to make it look so damn cool.

'You sure?' Beast Boy asked him, between blowing on his aching fingers.

'Dude, you've got to stop acting like I'm your boss, I'm not Robin. You can do what you like, it's your band as much as mine or Jake's or Suzy's' James told him, trying not to blow smoke onto his friend.

'Thanks man.' Beast Boy hopped out of the car, 'I might bring them to the sound check tonight then.'

'Do just that.' James pulled away and sped off down the street towards his home.

'Yeah, my band.' The changeling said to himself before setting off for his tower home.

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'You got what?' Raven was barely controlling her excitement and proceeded to hug Beast Boy to prove the point. Thankfully since Trigon's defeat she had been able to show emotion without blowing stuff up. She was really getting accustomed to it too, sometimes being more excitable than Starfire.

'Fuhbuhhstuhtuckuh.' He said through her shoulder.

'Back stage tickets, four of them.' Cyborg translated, used to having to listen to BB talk with his mouth full, be it with food or with stank ball.

'Four, what about you?' Robin asked him.

'I uh…don't need one. I also got us invited to tonight's sound check, I'm connected like that.' Beast Boy told them.

'Sometimes you do such wonderful things I just want to lock you in a cage and keep you as my little bumglorf.' Starfire shouted, causing Beast Boy to back off a little.

'Though I would never do that.' She added, sheepishly.

'Yeah, we're gonna be late though, so hurry up and get ready.' With that he strolled out.

Timescale jump

'Here we are. I'll just see about getting you in.' Beast Boy strolled casually from the car to the security guard.

'Jerry,' he said quietly, 'dude, pretend to be considering whether to let me in or not.' He asked him.

'Sure.' The burly man replied.

'I think he's having some hassle over there.' Cyborg pointed to the little green teen, who seemed to be having an animated argument with the security guard. He began to scuffle back over, looking dejected.

'The guard says he was never told. I'll call James, he'll sort this out.' Beast Boy reached into the pocket of his off-duty jeans and grabbed a cell phone, punching in a number and holding it to his ear.

'James? It's BB, yeah; the security guard's trying to get us to leave. Yeah. Thanks man. Peace.' He flipped the phone closed and stared expectantly at the doorman.

He watched as Jerry lifted his hand to his ear and pretended to receive a message from inside. He waved them over and opened the door.

'Sorry about that guys.' He said as they passed.

'No problem, dude,' Beast Boy said, the last to enter, 'I totally owe you one, Jer.'

Inside they were led through the main doors to the arena floor and to the foot of the currently empty stage.

'Here we are, it gets hot in here, so you guys may wanna lose the jackets.' BB told them.

The team removed their outer layer to reveal very plain off-duty clothes, well, in Robin and Cyborg's case at least.

Raven revealed a We Were Once tour shirt and purple-black baggy pants, studded belt(s) and wrist bands. She had obviously leant another shirt to Starfire as it seemed too small for her and hugged her curves in all the right places, she was wearing a short black skirt much like her normal one. She also wore all the accessories associated withy rock show goers.

Robin drooled for a second before being startled back to reality by a loud bass note.

'That's Suzy, the bass player.' Raven pointed out the tall girl on the stage.

'Hey, it's the Titans!' She shouted over her shoulder to the drummer who came forwards.

'Hey Titans, hey BB.' He shouted down to them. 'You looking for James?'

'Jake the bass player.' Raven said quietly to Starfire.

'Yeah, you know where he is?' BB shouted, oblivious to the stares he was gaining from the other Titans for conversing so freely with a famous rockstar.

'He's in the back, you know the way.' Jake pointed.

'Thanks.' He led the other Titans to a door and through a maze of corridors until they came to a door with a star on it.

'Wait here.' He told them and entered.

They stood for a long time, Raven almost shaking in anticipation.

'Ok guys.' They heard BB shout from within. They entered.

Sat on the sofa next to their team mate was James Raze, lead singer and guitarist of We Were Once and all-round musical genius.

'Wow, that's James Raze.' Raven said not too quietly. The famous musician chuckled.

'Yes it is.' He said, his accent not American but not British.

'Who?' Starfire asked, eliciting another chuckle from the singer.

'He's the guitarist and singer, he also writes movie soundtracks, opera and composes modern classical music. He's sung or played an instrument on nearly every recent album and is generally a genius.' Raven rambled.

'Pleased to make your acquaintance, James Raze at your service. I must say I've been told lots about you by my band mate, Evergreen. He's familiar with all of you.' He presented a hand first to Robin, then to each Titan in turn, kissing the hands of Raven and Starfire.

'Where is he? He's the only one we haven't seen yet.' Raven asked, glancing around, over a manically grinning Beast Boy.

'He's here.' James said, gesturing in a round about way. 'Somewhere.'

'You guys should go back out front, the whole band are about to sound check, I'll be with you shortly.' Beast Boy told them.

They stood a while in the arena, waiting. Eventually James appeared on stage with his guitar.

'Frank, can we boost the backing mics? I couldn't hear Suzy or EG earlier today. Thanks.' He shouted to the man on the mixing desk.

'Hello again, guys. We're just gonna get levels right and then we can leave, k?' He asked them. They nodded.

'Alright, we'll check on 'What's That?' It's easy. You ready guys?' He asked the band, Evergreen was finally there, his back to the open arena.

'That's Evergreen, he was taught by James and is debatably as good a musician as him.' Raven told them.

'It's not debatable, love, he really is.' James said with a grin. '1.2.3.4!'

He broke into a fast riff, with Evergreen chugging chords behind him, the bass came in and eventually Jake entered with a fill.

'I am singing random nonsense! To the tune of one of our songs! So Frank can check the levels and get it right.' James sang into his mic in perfect tune, but the words were obviously not part of the song.

His singing was nonetheless impressive and gained an amused outbreak from the Titans.

'I think that Evergreen should introduce himself! It's rude to keep your friends waiting. Frank boost the left hand moniter, I can't hear a thing.' He continued to sing.

'Green bean, take it. SOLO!' He suddenly shouted, leaping away from the microphone.

The previously unseen guitarist stepped backwards and span, wrenching out a pinched harmonic bend that could make Hendrix cry.

'Wait, isn't that… BEAST BOY?' Raven shouted suddenly, grabbing Starfire's arm in sheer disbelief.

He wailed on his Gibson so hard Steve Vai would hang up his pick for good and Slash would kill himself. A bend and dive-bomb into a very, very fast run all the way up the neck and he stopped, stepping back and letting James back to the mic.

'Wow, I have taught you well Grasshopper.' He said down the mic, grinning back at his friend.

Frank gave them a thumbs up and they all stopped playing.

'Cheers mate.' James said, placing his guitar on the nearby rack and jumping off the rather high stage, landing in a roll and popping up in front of the Titans, who were simply staring at their friend on the stage.

'Well?' James said, waving a hand in front of Starfire's face.

'BB…on…stage…guitar.' Cyborg said.

'Heh, I think this is all yours EG.' James walked away, lighting a cigarette.

**There you have it. I know Raven is OOC but I've explained that as her enjoying being emotional now she can be.**

**So, review me, I'm sure you will.**

**Reamis. Once more, out.**


	2. Backstage

**I've actually had reviews, that's a new sensation.**

**I've replied to them though, so I won't do it here.**

**Disclaimer: I do actually own We Were Once and everyone in it (Except BB, duh) and the story. I don't own the Titans because if I did I'd force CN to do season 6.**

Recap:

The Titans discover that the fantastically talented rhythm guitarist of their favourite band is in fact their resident green changeling and now he needs to explain his way out of this hole.

Go!

Beast Boy jumped from the stage to land in front of his friends, who were stuck in a kind of paralysis.

'So, yeah…I'm a rockstar.' He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

'But you never said…anything about this kind of thing.' Raven was the first to speak, fighting against herself not to throw herself at the member of her favourite band.

'I didn't want people to know I was in a band as well as being a Titan, too much pressure, y'know?' He confided.

'So all this time we've been living with a member of the best band on the planet.' Robin noted.

'Well, no, I only joined around the time Terra became…well, incapacitated. I needed something to take my mind off things so I went into a bar in the city and these guys were playing. I talked to James afterwards and he said he'd help me.' Beast Boy explained.

'Nothing like music to heal a wound.' The singer said from a nearby bench.

'Anyway, for a while he taught me to play and then said 'You should join my band, you're plenty good enough.' and I was all; 'Wow!' So that's how it happened.' He grinned a little.

'So that's why so many We Were Once songs have titles relevant to missions we've been on!' Robin shouted.

'No, that's a coincidence.' James said.

'Even 'I hate Aqualad.'?'

'Actually that was Jake's idea; he thinks Aqualad is a crap hero. Don't ya Jake?' James shouted to the drummer.

'Don't talk to me about that fishy spaz.' Jake shouted from his drum kit.

'Funnily enough 'I hate Aqualad' is Aqualad's favourite song. He says he loves the riff.' Cyborg explained. 'Bee was telling me.' He explained more.

'We please to aim.' Beast Boy said with a chuckle.

'Your little Beast Boy there has actually written a few songs himself. 'Take My Money With You', erm… 'I'm An Animal'. He made us cover 'I Am The Walrus.'' James explained, stubbing out his cigarette and marching over, already rolling another.

'Our Beast Boy?' Robin said, confused.

'Yeah, BB to you, EG to us.' He gestured to Jake and Suzy and himself.

'So, can I go or do we have more to do?' Beast Boy asked suddenly.

'Well, we're done with the sound; we just gotta rig Jake's drums to the strobes and make sure the pyro doesn't kill us. That's important; you might wanna stick around for that.' James said, walking over to a pipe protruding from the stage.

'Nah, I'm ok with that, it'll be fun, like last time.' The green boy replied.

'Ah yes, that was hilarious.' James chuckled slightly and gestured to a person in a box somewhere, a jet of flame leapt from the pipe and he leant into it, lighting his cigarette. 'Thanks, John.' He shouted to the unseen pyrotechnic controller.

'I'll see you tomorrow then. We're checking beforehand right?' He asked, gaining a nod from his front man.

'See ya, Titans.' Suzy shouted from where she was sitting with Jake.

'EG!' James shouted running after them.

'Yeah?' He turned to look.

James stood for a second looking very serious until he could hold it no longer and his face split into a large smile.

'Which one?' He asked, not giving anything away.

'I told you, not until we know where you're from.' The changeling laughed a little and set off walking again.

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Back at the tower Robin went to change from his off-duty clothes, for some reason he preferred his uniform.

The rest of the team went to sit on the couch, where they were silent for a long time. Eventually Starfire broke the awkwardness.

'Raven, it must be a revelation to find your friend is a member of your favourite band. Are you not excited?' She asked.

'Not really.' Raven said, though her lying was less convincing than usual.

'Well, I'm gonna hit the recharging table, that took it outta me. See y'all in the morning.' Cyborg faked a yawn, winked at Beast Boy and ran out of the room.

'I also must leave, for slightly less technological reasons.' Starfire almost vanished, she had left so fast.

That left Raven alone with a person she had obsessed over for a year or so.

'So uh… what did you think of the last album?' Beast Boy asked, sheepishly.

'It's my favourite, also I don't believe that a lot of your song titles don't relate to things we've done.' She told him.

'Like what?'

'Stop her, she's marrying a blob.'?' Raven asked.

'Ok, but it just fit.' He tried.

They again sat in silence, savouring the quiet until Beast Boy deigned to speak again.

'I actually wrote one of the songs on the newest album too. It's probably the only one that actually does relate to a mission. It's also the only one that isn't super fast.' He told her.

'Which is that?' Raven asked.

'Like you haven't memorised the track-list.' He laughed.

'Well the only slow song on the album is 'I fell in love with the end of the world', what's that got to do with anything?' She wasn't on top form, it seems, after meeting her idols.

'Nothing at all. I'll talk to you tomorrow, k?' He stood and set off for the door.

'Goodnight Evergreen.' She shouted after him.

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'Rae, hurry up, we're gonna be late!' Cyborg shouted outside her door. It wasn't like her to take hours on her appearance.

Beast Boy had been picked up earlier in a limo and now the Titans were ready to set off.

All except Raven, who hadn't come out of her room since midday.

'If I have to break this door I wont be pleased!' Cyborg shouted, about to bang on the door when it slid open.

Raven stood, wearing a different We Were Once shirt from yesterday, a black skirt and some scuffed converse shoes, she had on all of her accessories, studded belts, wristbands, even a lip spike.

'I didn't know you had a pierced lip.' Robin stated.

'Well, I do.' Was her abrupt reply.

'Lets go!' Robin shouted.

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'Passes.' The burly guard from the day before shouted as they approached.

They showed him their backstage VIP passes and he opened the door for them, flashing a rare smile at the sight of the city's protectors in typical rock-show garb.

In the back they were once again ushered to a door with a star on it, though venturing inside revealed a much larger room than yesterday.

Beast Boy sat on a couch on the far side of the room, Suzy the bass player on his left, discussing the virtues of certain effects.

'Phased bass is cool but why would you need flange as well?' He said loudly.

'Because it…hey, your friends are here.' She said suddenly.

'Oh, hey guys, make yourselves at home, we've got a while before we go onstage.' He said, standing up and moving to them.

'Hey everyone, anyone seen James? He left a while ago, another of his moods building.' Jake had wandered in and proceeded to drum on everything that was near him with his hands.

'Oh no, not again. He needs help.' Suzy chuckled a little.

'Hey, leave him alone, you know he can't help it.' Beast Boy shouted at them.

'You guitarists take yourselves too seriously.' Jake said, grabbing a glass of water that conveniently happened to be on the table.

'What's he talking about?' Raven asked the green teen once everyone had settled into a seat.

'James occasionally has 'moments' where he gets a little…depressed I suppose.' BB explained.

'He seems to believe he isn't good enough for his fans.'

Just as Raven was about to question this the door swung open and James stalked in, a look of sheer hatred on his face.

'Don't say a word.' He warned Jake, who was about to speak.

Stamping over to a cabinet, he grabbed a glass and filled it with some kind of whiskey, downed it in one and stood staring into the mirror on the wall, not moving.

'He gets really bad sometimes.' Beast Boy whispered to the empath.

'You make me sick.' James said quietly to his reflection.

'FAILURE!' He shouted suddenly, throwing his glass into the mirror, shards of silver raining from the wall. A shattered image of the singer remained, fragmented and distorted.

He glanced around the room and spotted the Titans. His expression softened a little.

'I'm sorry, if you feel uncomfortable I'll take this elsewhere.' He said to them.

'Let yourself go, man, it's good for you.' Cyborg said, trying not to sound like he wanted the famous person to leave their own dressing room.

'I'm done.' He said, simply, sitting into the sofa he had jumped onto. 'Sometimes it's just…the pressure, y'know? 'The greatest musician alive' Yeah, I don't even like myself a lot of the time.' He continued almost to himself.

'Five minutes guys.' A head had popped around the door to tell them.

'Thanks.' James shouted.

'Dude, you know you always feel better onstage, we'll get out there and just rock them hard. By the way, did you think about my suggestion?' Beast Boy sat next to his mentor and front man.

'Oh, go for it. It'll definitely get you in, if you know what I mean.' James seemed to have brightened a little.

'Dude, why the sick jokes?' Beast Boy leapt up, though still laughing and turned to his friends.

'You guys should go back out if you wanna see the show properly.' He told them, so they turned and filed out, Raven dragging behind.

She was staring at the singer, who seemed to be bleeding from cuts on his hand. No surprise, really, he'd gone back over and run his hand down the smashed mirror.

'This isn't over.' He said threateningly to himself.

'Raven, there's a little bit of the show I think you may enjoy,' Beast Boy was saying, 'It's kinda dedicated to you.' He added, sheepishly.

'Uh, thanks, I guess.' She replied and followed the others.

'Time to make Led Zeppelin glad they quit, guys.' Jake said, moving towards the door.

'Yeah, sounds great.' James sighed and stood.

This was going to be a good show, something in the air told him.

**There we go, kinda short but you love me for it really.**

**Review me please, or if you already have, thanks and DO IT AGAIN!**

**(cough) So yeah.**

**Reamis is out.**


	3. Showtime

**Here we go again.**

**Thank you all for your reviews, strangely this story is getting less hits but more reviews than my other. **

**Proving that the people who read _this_ are obviously cooler.**

**Anyway, enjoy.**

The final chord of the first song died away and the screaming began again, whilst the voices one could determine were mostly female there was the occasional male display of jubilation.

The room was dark, the endless seething mass of black only punctuated by the odd red glow of cigarettes, the atmosphere was one that could only be described as welcoming. People of all ages and walks of life greeting each other for the first time like they were old friends. A huge, tattooed biker moving out of the way of a short kid who couldn't see the stage. People sharing what they had, bottles of water, cigarretes etc.

'Wow, I wish I could take this mask off now.' Beast Boy said loudly to James, who was still waiting for the audience to quiet down.

'All right, all right, I'll do that bit now then.' The singer/lead guitarist of We Were Once replied.

Eventually the screams subsided to the occasional whistle and James moved back to the mic.

'A treat for you guys now, for the first time _ever_…Evergreen is going to show his face! It's all for you Jump City!' This caused an eruption of noise from the already excitable crowd, who almost exploded at the news that the secretive rhythm guitarist was going to de-mask just for them.

Evergreen (or rather Beast Boy) stepped into James' spotlight at the front of the stage and lifted his hand to the top of his head, over the rim of his mask.

For a while the crowd went insane, chanting and shouting, eventually they were quiet and a slow hand clap began in anticipation of the event.

'_I'm loving this.'_ The green Titan/rock star thought to himself, ripping the mask off.

The crowd was silenced.

'Erm… Good evening Jump City!' He yelled at the microphone.

The crowd went ballistic, shouting, scrambling towards the stage. Cameras flashed from every direction and Beast Boy thought he could just make out a newspaper reporter scribbling down every detail.

He grinned and stepped away from the mic, letting James back in.

'Ok,' the singer yelled through the (top quality Peavey) PA, 'So now you know. Turn into animals and play a wicked awesome solo, this guy can do it all. Next song! This one's off our second major label album, it's called 'Your place or mine?' 1.2...1.2.3.4.' He flung his guitar around in the first chord sequence and ran back to his mic.

'So, having fun?' Raven shouted to Robin over the noise of the music and the fans singing along.

'What?' He yelled back.

'I said; 'having f…'oof!' She was jostled by the now budding moshpit, or more precisely; Starfire, who was a part of the now budding moshpit.

'This is most enjoyable; the intense physical activity is similar to battle but less fraught with danger.' She shouted.

'Or more, depending on the intensity of the pit.' Cyborg said, appearing from nowhere.

'What are you all saying?' Robin yelled, getting slightly frustrated.

'You need to stop talking and join in!' Raven pushed him into the middle of the circle pit, laughing as he tried to avoid the flying bodies.

'Just push them back, man.' Cyborg boomed to him over the heads of some younger fans.

Robin began to slam into the rockers nearby and eventually, once assured that they weren't hurt and neither was he, he began to enjoy it.

'Dude, check out my friends!' Beast Boy shouted to James during an instrumental section, they both stared as the protectors of the city threw themselves into each other. Robin had caught his arm on Raven's lip spike and was bleeding slightly but he didn't seem to notice.

'That's going to sting like hell when the adrenaline wears off.' James shouted back, chuckling.

He ended the song quickly with a great run and powerful chord and let the screams of his fans wash over him, ridding him of any of the doubts he usually got before shows.

'I'm gonna step back and let the green boy do one.' James told the still ecstatic crowd. He motioned BB forwards and stepped away.

'Hey, this one is for someone who means a lot to me,' He began, 'I wrote it for her but she didn't seem to get it when I explained. So, Raven…'

'Me?' Raven gasped.

'This one's for you, it's called 'I fell in love with the end of the world.' He closed his eyes and began the soft, slow riff but he'd changed it a little from the studio version.

'I really hope they're recording this for a live album, because I'm not playing it like this again.' He said down the mic with a little smile.

He was wrenching sounds from his Gibson that didn't seem real, dreamlike bends and fading harmonics that seemed to sustain forever. All in all, it was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever heard.

'I can't believe he would do that.' Raven said, trying not to well up.

'It's so beautiful…' Cyborg was in awe, but it didn't stop him from being the one to initiate the holding up of lighters.

'Where'd you get that?' Robin asked him, trying to hide his own.

'Erm… the street team was handing them out.' He looked around shiftily as Beast Boy broke out of his intro solo and into the verse.

His voice was fantastic, not just by industry standards but even compared to the heavenly voice of his band's lead singer. Some would argue that for this song, just this once, he actually sounded better than James Raze ever could.

Raven certainly seemed to think so, and she couldn't help letting a few tears roll down her cheek as her favourite song was performed so wonderfully. Just for her.

For the remainder of the song they didn't speak, the whole stadium was silent except for Beast Boy and his guitar; he seemed to have forgotten that anyone else was there. James was simply standing, ignoring the fact that he should be playing rhythm.

The only other member of the band still playing was Jake and that was only because he wanted to keep the green teen in time. To prolong the song.

James remembered where he was in time to strum the final chord, a beautiful suspended ninth as Beast Boy's final pinched harmonic faded into the night, past the sea of flickering lighter flames.

'Thank you.' Was all he said, and then stepped back from the mic.

'All right BB!' Cyborg yelled extremely loudly.

Raven was too busy covertly drying her eyes to scream encouragement.

'_Great, get all weepy on us.'_ Bravery berated her from her mind.

'OK! Fantastic! Now, last year we released our third album and you guys feckin' inhaled the things, so thanks for your money and here's a track from there…' James was on form again after his lapse during Beast Boy's song.

The rest of the night went smoothly, a few minor injuries sustained but nothing noticeable. They would certainly notice the stinging when the adrenaline ran out, but nothing serious.

Raven spent the whole night trying to work through Beast Boy's dedication, even when in a pit her heart wasn't really in it.

We Were Once performed 'I hate Aqualad' as an encore, throwing the chords out into the crowd like they were a lit stick of dynamite and spitting the lyrics like they were foul tasting acid. (On an interesting note, Aqualad was actually there that night, and this was the best part of the set in his opinion.)

'Thank you Jump, you've been great! I need to go lie down.' James shouted at the very end. 'Have a good one.'

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The Titans made their way to the dressing room where they were before and found it much the same as it was previously. Only now it was filled with band members coming down off an intense adrenaline high, or still in the midst of one. It was very loud, in other words.

'Omigod! That was so awesome! I cried during '…Fell in love…' Suzy was jabbering.

'I need caffeine! CAFFEINE!' Jake was shouting through a fit of laughter.

'Hey BB, Where's James.' Cyborg asked, moving to the couch where his friend was sat.

'He went out for a smoke.' Beast Boy replied quietly.

'Hey guys! Look…I found a spoon! Why would they have a spoon lying around. I said spoon a lot. Woah, sp-oo-n…that's so weird.' James had run in holding a plastic spork.

'I didn't say what he was smoking.' BB smiled.

'Uh, James that's not a spoon, it's a sp…' Robin began.

'DON'T SAY IT!' Jake shouted.

'Spork.' Robin finished, despite the warning.

'Oh, wow,' His eyes widened in wonder and amusement at the funny word. 'SPORK!' He screamed, running from the room again.

'That was disturbing.' Raven intoned, she glanced over at the green boy, who was staring at her.

'Can we talk?' She asked. 'Someplace private.' She added after Jake wolf-whistled into his can of Mountain Dew.

'Sure.' He stood and led her to another room.

'I was wondering, on stage you said that you wrote that song…for me.' Raven began.

'Well, duh. 'I fell in love with the end of the world'? How obvious could I make it?' Beast Boy said quietly. 'Should I have called it 'I love you Raven'? Jeez.' He continued to ramble.

'Wait, what did you just say?' Raven stopped him.

'Jeez?' He attempted.

'Before that.' She prompted.

'Raven.'

'Three words before that.' Raven sighed.

'I' He said proudly.

'and then?'

'Love.'

'Next?'

'You.'

'And then?'

'Raven.'

'Put them together.' Raven was getting impatient.

'I love you, Raven.' He said, giving a self-conscious grin.

'I don't know what to say.' She moved back and sat on a nearby stool, hand on head.

'You could…say it back…maybe?' Beast Boy tried.

'But I…' She began.

'Don't, ok I get it, no big deal. We should get back to the others.' Beast Boy looked thoroughly depressed as he turned.

'Beast Boy…I do love you.' Raven said to his back.

He fainted.

**This chapter was kinda short, but hey, I'm sure you'll forgive me.**

**I was really trying to capture the mood in the arena but I don't think it's a mood that can be captured well in writing. Or even pictures. You have to live it.**

**That's a tip to all you who haven't been to a good old fashioned rock show. GO TO ONE! Take some friends, you'll have a blast. I don't care if it's not your kind of music. GO!**

**Ok.**

**So thanks.**

**Reamis, out.**


	4. Finale

**Chapter……… 4?**

**I really have lost track now, doing this, Spitfire, finishing that chapter for UtterlyPointless and planning my epic (which unfortunately isn't a fan fic so you may not have the chance to read it!)**

**Anyway, here goes. It's possible that this is the penultimate if not the final chapter. It's been fun, I'll tell you.**

'Cy, I think I can reach that bunker and 'nade it if you give me some cover!' Beast Boy shouted, hefting his rifle and ducking just below the line of the trench.

'I don't know man; it's at least twenty yards covered by that MG42. I don't think you could make it.' His metallic friend answered, glancing at the other troops, some of whom looked practically queasy.

'Just give me some smoke and suppressing fire and I'll reach it.' He readied himself as Cyborg unclipped the smoke grenade and pull back before his throw to 'cook' it, he launched it toward the bunker and Beast Boy counted.

'1...2...3...4...I'm gone!' He jumped over the trench and sprinted towards the bunker, unclipping a grenade as he did.

He ran through the smoke, hearing the gunfire of his comrades booming behind him and encouraging shouts from Cyborg. He launched the grenade at the slit of the bunker and waited for the explosion.

He had missed. The grenade exploded at his feet, momentarily paralysing him, it was enough time for the smoke to clear and the MG42 to spot him.

'BB!' Cyborg screamed as the bullets tore through his friend, rendering their attempt at completing the level useless.

'Can you keep it down?' Raven asked from her part of the couch.

It was two weeks since Beast Boy's big gig and his enormous confession, to which Raven had replied in kind. For the whole two weeks since the green teen had been trying everything he could think of to be romantic. Raven actually found it rather endearing.

'I'm sorry, Raven, but we were just trying to finish this level, we'll turn it down. Heck we'll turn Cyborg down.' Beast Boy tried 'the face'.

'Oh, ok, fine, keep playing.' She gave in, cringing as the sudden sound of an explosion from the tv rocked the tower.

'Thanks my little blackbird. I'll treat you to a special night out for this.' Beast Boy turned back the screen and shot at someone who was running towards the screen brandishing a bayonet.

'We've been out every night this week and last.' Raven sounded both impressed and exasperated.

'We'll stay in then. I'll cook you something, no tofu.' He threw a grenade at the enemies grouped around a bunker and laughed as he watched their bodies fly in all directions. He could actually be quite disturbing while playing games.

'Ok, sure. I'm gonna go meditate.' She stood and kissed Beast Boy on the forehead, then left.

'I'll come and get you when it's time.' He shouted after her.

'Dude, whipped.' Cyborg said, simply.

'Nuh uh!' Came the childish reply.

This lasted for at least three hours.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

'Are we sure, guys?' James asked his bass player and drummer, a look of consternation on his normally placid features.

'I am if you are dude.' Jake replied, gaining a nod from Suzy.

'All right, we'll call it in.' He picked up the phone and hit speed dial one.

'Hey?' Beast Boy's voice answered.

'Hey, EG, we need to talk, can you get out here? We're at the theatre.' James asked, hitting the speakerphone button.

'I dunno, I think Robin wants us to stick around, also, I was gonna cook for Rae.' His voice came from the phone.

'Well how 'bout we come there?' Jake asked boldly.

'Erm…' Came the reply, 'I dunno, I'll ask Robin.'

For a while We Were Once looked at each other, no one was smiling.

'Ok, come on over whenever you like.' BB's voice came back.

'Right now then.' James said, hanging up.

'Say goodbye, why not?' Beast Boy said irritably.

He didn't have to wait long, soon a loud knocking was heard at the massive door to the tower. Robin was the one to let them in, gracing the world as he did in a We Were Once t-shirt.

'Hey EG, I need to tell you something.' James said instantly when shown into the common room where BB was waiting. The look on his face seemed like he would burst into tears any second.

'What's up, dude? Someone steal your PRS?' Beast Boy half-joked, he knew it would utterly kill his front man to lose his baby.

'Well, Jake and Suzy…are getting married.' He said, grabbing a glass from the counter and filling it from a hip flask.

'What, that's fantastic!' Beast Boy shouted in confusion, the whole of the team had gathered now to watch the events unfold.

'That's not all. I've decided that I'm gonna go through with my plans. I'm leaving on Monday.' He continued.

'So, you are going to travel the world looking for the perfect sound?' the green teen asked, quietly.

'The perfect everything EG, the perfect life.' He stared out of the window for a while.

'So this means… that We Were Once… What?' BB asked, worriedly.

'Yeah, to make a bad pun, We Were Once, were once.' He chuckled. 'Unless you wanna recruit and carry on without us.' He gestured. 'You're certainly good enough now.'

'I couldn't take your legacy from you.' Came the choked up answer.

'My legacy means nothing where I'm going to be looking.' James again stared out of the window.

'I still can't' Beast Boy was fighting to hold back the tears. As were a couple of the other Titans.

'Well, this is it then, this is the end of us.' James said, picking up the pack he was carrying.

'I guess so. We had a good run. Better to burn out as they say.' BB said, gaining a no from Jake.

'So long, EG, it's been safe, Titans.' He turned to go, following Jake and Suzy.

'Wait, James!' Beast Boy shouted.

'What?' He turned back.

'I answered your question.' He said, pulling Raven into an embrace.

'Oh, yeah. Well, I was born…' He started.

'Yes?' Beast Boy prompted.

'On a boat in the middle of the Atlantic, I really am from nowhere.' He laughed and left the room and the tower.

For a long time the Titans just stared at their friend, who stared in turn at the floor.

'Are you going to be ok?' Raven asked finally.

'Yeah, I'll be fine. Now, how about that special dinner!' He leapt into action.

'If you're sure.' She replied and left him to it, as did everyone else.

For a long time he cooked and prepared with no trouble, until his memory strayed to the good times he had with We Were Once. Of James saving him from himself after Terra's demise. Of laughing with Jake and Suzy after a sold out show.

He began to let the tears fall.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

'Beast Boy, that was wonderful.' Raven pushed her plate away and leaned back, trying to suppress a satisfied belch.

'Glad you liked it.' He said in a distant tone.

'You're really cut up about the band aren't you?' She asked him, stating the obvious to make him admit it.

'Yeah, I guess, all the best things in my life have been because of that band. Including finally telling you how I feel.' He took her hands across the table. 'I really love you Raven.' He finished.

'And I love you Garfield.' She replied quietly.

'Hey, BB!' A voice came through the intercom, Cyborg's. 'There's something you may want to see in the entrance hall.'

'Ok, I'll be right down.' It sounded urgent.

He ran, followed by Raven who floated down to where the message originated.

'What is it?' Beast Boy asked, rushing almost right into Robin.

'This.' Cyborg stepped aside to reveal a beautiful PRS on a stand, a note next to it read 'For EG.'

'Whoa!' was all the green Titan could say.

'Read it!' Cyborg urged, shoving the note at him.

'Ok, 'EG, I won't be needing this where I'm going so I thought you should have it. Along with my royalties and rights from We Were Once. Jake and Suzy can live off theirs so I'm giving mine to you.'' He stopped to wipe a tear from his eye. ''I Thought perhaps you might like it. I knew from your version of '…fell in love…' That I could never reach that standard, you weren't playing it, you were it. It was pure love and passion in music. Raven is very lucky and so are you. Don't lose the music. Your former mentor, James.''

He held the note for a moment, using it to catch his tears.

'Come on, Gar, play it for me.' Raven grabbed his arm and they began to walk to his room with the guitar.

'I think I might like just being a Titan.' He said as they walked.

From outside the tower James, sat on a rock, heard Beast Boy begin to play, he sat for a while, listening to the gifted boy play, then hefted his pack and walked off for the city.

'The road goes ever on and on, down from the door…' He began to sing and descended into a whistle as he ventured to new horizons.

In the tower Beast Boy had stopped playing, for what reason, we shall never know.

**Yes, it was the final chapter.**

**Thank you so much for staying with me till the end of it. I really appreciate it.**

**I'm getting teary, so I'll sign off with another thank you.**

**Check out my ongoing story Spitfire if you like my writing. Also, it's no sure thing but I may occasionally finish off a chapter of UtterlyPointless's work, so take a look at it. It's good, take a look anyway.**

**Reamis, out. For good.**


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